Psalm of Praise: Psalms 29:1-2, 4
Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness.
The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.
Bible Reading: John 4:46-47, 49-51
There was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.
When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,
he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
"Go," Jesus replied, "your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed.
While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living.
A Reflection:
Having a child who is seriously ill is traumatic for any parent. Initially they might go to the chemist for something off the shelf. If this doesn’t work it is a trip to the GP. The next step might be to see a specialist and if no solution is found it could be a trip to the hospital. I wonder at what stage the problem is brought to Jesus.
I guess the man in Capernaum whose son was ill would have tried all the local remedies and paid a number of so-called healers, all to no avail. He then hears that a new young preacher and healer had arrived in the area so he goes and begs him to come to his son before he dies.
For this man, access to Jesus was limited by both time and distance. We do not have those restrictions; we have access to Jesus through prayer 24-7. At any time on any day we can come to him with the things that concern us. Let us not then make that our last resort; let us instead come to Jesus at the outset and let him guide us, and guide those who might help us.
The father of this sick boy wanted Jesus to come to his son at his home in order to heal him, maybe expecting some religious rite or some special tonic. But Jesus didn’t need to travel to the home. For Jesus, healing followed a step of faith and Jesus perceived that the man had taken that step of faith by coming to him on behalf of his son. All Jesus needed to do was to speak the word and the boy would be healed. Jesus said to the man, ‘Your son will live’ and the man ‘took Jesus at his word’ and went on his way.
I wonder how much we take Jesus at his word. He has spoken many words of promise recorded in the gospels, and the whole bible contains many more words to us from God. Words like ‘My peace I give you’, ‘I will be never leave you or forsake you’, ‘I will give you rest’, ‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you’, ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you as well’, ‘I will give you the Holy Spirit’, ‘Whoever believes in me will have eternal life’.
Are there any words of Jesus that resonate with you today? Will you take Jesus at his word? Chew them over and reflect on them as you go through this day!
Pray:
Lord Jesus, help me to build my life
on the solid foundation that is the Word of God.
Amen
Say the word
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